This invention relates broadly to the art of body fluid drainage bags and tubing therefore, and more specifically to covers for these items.
There are numerous persons who for various reasons have permanent or temporary tubular catheters extending into their bodies in order to drain body fluid to outside their bodies. For example, so called supra-pubic catheters extend into patient's bladders via incisions in abdominal cavities rather than via urinary tracts. Many of these patients are otherwise quite healthy and often are completely ambulatory. Thus, body-mounted or support-mounted drainage bags are frequently attached to outside ends of such tubular catheters for collecting body fluids, such as urine, flowing out of bodies through these tubular catheters.
People who must use such body-fluid drainage bags are often exposed to the viewing public and, as can be imagined, are somewhat self conscious about others seeing unsightly drainage bags and tubing attached to them. Thus, it is an object of this invention to allow a patient to use a body-fluid drainage bag and the related tubing without the elements being visible to others.
Most patients using body-fluid drainage bags and tubing have worn these items under their normal clothes so as to shield them from the view of others, however, keeping these items under clothes can be inconvenient and is often impractical. In this respect, one must normally have easy access to a drainage bag so that he or she can periodically check the amount of fluid drained into the bag and so that he or she can empty the drainage bag at the appropriate time. Drainage bags worn under clothes are difficult to check without removing, or pulling back, in an undignified manner, portions of the clothing. At the same time, it is also quite difficult to empty such drainage bags worn under the clothing because access through the clothing must first be gained thereto. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide covering for a body-fluid drainage bag and tubing which allows easy access thereto and inspection thereof.
Yet another difficulty with prior-art body-fluid drainage bag covering devices is that they are difficult to mount on bodies. In this regard, when they are worn under clothing, they must either be attached to the clothing or to persons' bodies. If they are attached to clothing, the clothing might be damaged and will probably be pulled in undesirable manners by the weights of the bags. If they are attached to the bodies, the attachment devices must be easy to remove in combination with the clothes in order to empty the body-fluid drainage bags. It is an object of this invention to provide a cover for a body-fluid drainage bag and related tubing which can be easily attached to a person's body without damaging his or her clothes and which allows easy access to the body-fluid drainage bag.